WEST HAVEN -- The West Haven football team has had plenty of time to think about its last visit to Veterans Stadium. The contest, which resulted in a West Haven loss, was one of the reasons the Westies failed to qualify for the postseason last year.

Fast forward to Friday night and the Westies have new -- and better -- memories. Behind a powerful running game which accumulated 330 rushing yards, the Westies defeated Notre Dame-West Haven 34-13 in a Southern Connecticut Conference Division I East game.

"This is a real big win for us," West Haven's Ervin Philips said. "We worked hard in practice all week. We wanted to get a win here. We knew we needed a good showing on offense. We are just taking it a week at a time."

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Philips finished with 137 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the game. His 66-yard run on West Haven's first play from scrimmage set the tone of the game and gave the ninth-ranked Westies a 7-0 lead 6 minutes, 10 seconds into the game.

"It was a huge play," West Haven coach Ed McCarthy said after his team improved to 3-0. "He (Philips) cracked one early and that got us going. We allowed them to come right back but we were able to run the ball tonight."

On a night Notre Dame honored the 50th anniversary of the 1962 state champion football team that finished No. 1 in the final Register Top 10 poll, West Haven's running game proved to be very important as Notre Dame's Cameran Tucker had a big night of his own. Tucker, a junior, ran for 323 yards and two touchdowns on 44 carries. Tucker ran out of the Wildcat formation in the second half.

"It was a great effort by Tucker," Notre Dame coach Tom Marcucci said. "He had some big runs and he had some called back. He could have run for a lot more. It was a big effort from him."

The first half belonged to Tucker and Philips as each ran wild for their respective teams. Philips had a pair of touchdown runs and gained 114 yards, while Tucker pounded out 172 yards and Notre Dame's only score of the half on a 55-yard run.

Tucker escaped from two West Haven tackles, then sped past the rest of the defense to even the game at 7 with 4:05 left in the opening quarter.

"He (Tucker) ran for a ton of yards," McCarthy said. "He was very good out there."

Philips gave West Haven a 15-7 lead with 9:16 remaining in the first half. After Duane Gary ran for 16 yards, Philips capped the two-play drive with a 14-yard run off right tackle. Philips ran in the conversion for the 8-point lead.

West Haven then turned in the play of the game on the opening kickoff of the second half. Williams took the kickoff 70 yards for the score, giving West Haven a 21-7 lead.

"My coaches just told me to be ready because the ball was coming to me," Williams said. "I got it and just went full speed.

"This feels so good, especially as a senior. We have so many weapons. There is so much we can do. We just want to work hard as a team and keep getting better."

The Green Knights (1-2) drove deep into West Haven territory on the first two possessions of the second half but came up empty. West Haven took advantage, pulling away when Gary followed his blocks and raced 54 yards for a score 23 seconds into the fourth quarter.

"West Haven has some very good backs," Marcucci said. "They are very athletic. They do a nice job with the ball. Ervin Philips is a great back and the other two are really good."

Williams gave the Westies a 34-7 lead with a 28-yard touchdown run with 2:57 remaining before Tucker capped the scoring 51 seconds later with a 40-yard score.

Gary ran for 124 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, while Williams rushed for 70 yards and a score also on nine carries.